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Laser Micromachining for Polymer Surface Topography Design
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Laser-Based Polishing of Additively Manufactured PA12 and PAEK Polymer Components Using a Robotic System.

Emrah Uluz1,2, Leander Metz1,3, Lukas Hedwig3

  • 1Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology ILT, Steinbachstraße 15, 52074 Aachen, Germany.

Polymers
|May 13, 2026
PubMed
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Robotic laser polishing enhances additively manufactured polymers. This non-contact method significantly improves tensile strength and elongation for Polyamide 12 and reduces surface roughness for Polyaryletherketone, enabling demanding applications.

Area of Science:

  • Materials Science and Engineering
  • Additive Manufacturing
  • Surface Engineering

Background:

  • Additive manufacturing (AM) enables complex polymer component geometries.
  • Post-processing is crucial for enhancing mechanical properties and surface finish of AM parts.
  • Existing methods struggle with complex geometries and high-performance polymers.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To present a non-contact laser polishing method for additively manufactured polymer components.
  • To evaluate the effectiveness of robotic laser polishing on complex geometries and different polymer types.
  • To assess the impact on mechanical properties (tensile strength, elongation) and surface roughness.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized a 6-axis robotic system for non-contact laser polishing.
Keywords:
Polyamide 12Polyaryletherketoneadditive manufacturingfused deposition modelinglaser polishingmechanical propertiesselective laser sinteringsurface roughness

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  • Implemented robot-guided sample orientation, quasi-top-hat scanning, and closed-loop temperature control.
  • Applied the method to Selective Laser Sintering (SLS)-printed Polyamide 12 (PA12) and Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM)-printed Polyaryletherketone (PAEK) samples.

    • Main Results:

    • Laser polishing increased tensile strength (Rm) by up to 15% and elongation at break (A) by 50% for PA12 samples.
    • Reduced areal roughness (Sa) by ~92% on convex surfaces and high-pass-filtered micro-roughness (SaHP) by 98.2% on concave PA12 surfaces.
    • Achieved significant roughness reduction on PAEK samples (Sa by 85.5%, SaHP by 98.6%) despite high melting temperature.

    Conclusions:

    • Robotic laser polishing is a viable post-processing technique for additively manufactured polymers.
    • The method effectively improves mechanical performance and surface quality of complex polymer parts.
    • This approach supports the use of AM polymers in functionally demanding applications.